SqT dramatizes the relationship between two types of narrative: the fantastic and the metafictional. The former is seen in the mirror, ring, steed, and sword brought to Cambyuskan's court; the latter, in the response to these gifts by the courtiers…
In its narrative strategy and its theme of the comic irrelevance of the abstractions on which men try to base their lives, Nigel of Longchamps' medieval Latin beast fable, "Speculum Stultorum," provided a suggestive model for Chaucer's NPT.
Dickson, Donald R.
South Central Review 2 (1985): 10-22.
Establishes relationships between CYP and parts of CYT. The Yeoman shows himself as unstable as alchemy, caught between desire for success and fear of losing his soul.
Quinn, William A.
R. F. Yeager and Toshiyuki Takamiya, eds. The Medieval Python: The Purposive and Provocative Work of Terry Jones (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), pp. 167-79.
Corroborates Terry Jones's view that Chaucer was a pacifist, and argues that Jones and Chaucer both use humor and indirection against war. Chaucer was very earnest in his critiques of war in Mel and ParsT, but less direct in KnT and his description…
Guerin, Richard
English Studies 52 (1971): 412-19.
Reconsiders relations among ShT, Sercambi's "Novelle" no. 31, and Boccaccio's "Decameron" nos. 8.1 and 8.2, suggesting that it is "not unreasonable" to think that Chaucer "might have known all three of the analogues."
Jennings, Margaret (C.S.J.)
Florilegium 43 (1994): 121-40
Thematic sermon structure, as delineated in English "artes praedicandi," influenced romances as well as other genres. This influence can be seen in "Sir Amadace," "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," KnT (Theseus's speech on order), WBT (the…
Hirsh, John C.
C. David Benson and Elizabeth Robertson, eds. Chaucer's Religious Tales (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1990), no.130), pp. 161-70.
Examining both ecclesiastical and societal patriarchies, SNT addresses medieval concepts of power, authority, and autonomy. It places Cecilia's spiritual vision in the context of a broader secular and sacred order.
A comparison of Chaucer's narrators and the narrative voices of the "Roman" may clarify the continuing debates on the characteristics of his narrators, their function within the dream poems, and their relation to other narrative voices.
Blamires, Alcuin.
Karl Josef Holtgen, Peter M. Daly, and Wolfgang Lottes, eds. Words and Visual Imagination: Studies in Interaction of English Literature and the Visual Arts. (Erlangen: Universitatsbibliothek Erlangen-Nurnberg, 1988), pp. 11-31.
Medieval concepts of love and sex were derived from the worship of Venus, the goddess of love. Art of the period shows men worshipping Venus, as well as men and women trying to win each other's love.
Herzman, Ronald B.
American Benedictine Review 33 (1982): 325-33.
Symkyn's name is diminutive of Simon and thus calls up the story of Simon the Magician as found in the Acts of Peter. In a larger sense the rise and inevitable fall of pride that is the tales structural skeleton gains resonance when placed against…
Olson, Glending
Modern Language Quarterly 35 (1974): 219-30.
Argues that in its concern with social pretension and its atmosphere of "game and contest," RvT is better regarded as a comic fabliau than as a tale of vengeance that reflects its teller. Compares and contrasts RvT with several fabliaux, including…
Frank, Robert Worth, Jr.
Stanley Weintraub and Philip Young, eds. Directions in Literary Criticism: Contemporary Approaches to Literature (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1973), pp. 53-69.
Reads RvP as a "confession of old age" and RvT as a "tribute" to unrestrained passion and an extension of the concern with love in KnT and MilT. Compares RvT with its analogues, and comments on its characterizations, the straightforwardness of its…
Chaucer's improvements result from adapting source to the framework of CT--giving the tale to the highly individualized Reeve, whose emphasis upon "quitting" the Miller requires that Symkin become the strongest character in the tale. The most…
Benson, Larry D.
Paul Strohm and Thomas J. Heffernan, eds. Studies in the Age of Chaucer, Proceedings, No. 1, 1984 (Knoxville, Tenn.: New Chaucer Society, 1985), pp. 23-47.
Discusses bawdy words, obscenities, and euphemisms in Chaucer,exposing fallacies in overzealous scholarly search for obscene puns.
Tolmie, Sarah.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 22: 281-309. , 2000.
Assesses aspects of "Regement of Princes" to demonstrate Hoccleve's poetic subtlety, especially the ways he capitalizes on the idea that as a member of the "emergent administrative class," he had "restricted information." Discusses Pandarus of TC as…
Friedman, Albert B.
Chaucer Review 9 (1974): 118-29.
Challenges critics who absolve Chaucer of anti-Semitism by blaming the Prioress instead. Anti-Semitism was rife in Chaucer's society, and he was likely complicit in the bias. Yet, the topic is a critical distraction in discussions of PrT, which…
Examines how song and sound create narrative meaning within PrT. Chaucer's choice of using the antiphon, "Alma redemptoris mater," reveals the "transformative force that sound bears." Discusses issues of performance, voice, and silences; aural…
Describes how the Boethian concept of divine (fore)knowledge of eternity underlies various aspects of TC and explores how narrative devices, allusions, the treatment of time, and the epilogue evoke the "illusion of 'present eternite' for the reader…
The vivid details of Decameron 7.3 (the story of Friar Rinaldo)-the corrupt clergy, their obesity and sweating faces, their rich foods and wine, together with the simplicity of the widow's life-suggest that Boccaccio's work may have inspired NPT as a…
The Host's aversion to this tale is a clue to its interpretations: the narrator, a typical medieval physician, reveals himself and his profession through his narration. The death of Virginia is emblematic of the Physician's lack of concern for his…
Studies aspects of PhyT that derive from hagiography, particularly its emphasis on Virginia as a "virgin martyr," not found in Chaucer's sources. As a result of Chaucer's various changes and genre modifications, the tale raises "grave questions of…
